Definition of Computers Virus and Worm

The differences between computer virus and worm

The information below gathered from several resources on the Internet regarding the differences between viruses and worms.

A computer VIRUS is delivered by e-mail messages, which are designed to spread themselves from one file or folder to another on each computer. A virus might rapidly infect every application file on a single computer, or slowly infect the documents on that computer, but it does not intentionally try to spread itself from that computer to other computers. In most cases, that’s where users come in. It cans spread by email document attachments, trade programs on diskettes, or copy files to file servers and so on. When the next unsuspecting user receives the infected file or disk, they spread the virus to their computer. It infects a “host” (a file, boot sector, etc.) and then looks for ways to spread. The major things setting it apart from other malware are that it replicates itself and infects other files instead of existing as a standalone file. Viruses can be very harmful (e.g., erasing or damaging files) or they can be relatively benign.

But a computer WORM spreads through the internet connection or on the other hand, is insidious because they rely less on human behavior in order to spread from one computer to another. It is a program that is designed to copy itself from one computer to another over a network. The worm spreads itself to many computers over a network, and doesn’t wait for a human being to help. This means that computer worms spread much more rapidly than computer viruses. Worms do not attach themselves to a host program or file the way a virus does, but worms reside in active memory and stand alone with no need for a host. A worm does replicate itself like a virus, but it doesn’t do so by altering files. Instead, it replicates over computer networks.

“Malware” is used to describe any and all malicious software, including viruses, Trojan horse programs, and worms.

A TROJAN HORSE program does not replicate itself, and it does not infect other files. A

Trojan horse program is a malicious program that is contained within, or masquerades as, an innocent and useful program. The most widespread type of Trojan program is the type that installs “backdoor” access to a computer, through which a malicious person is allowed to remotely take control of the infected computer. The next most popular type is designed simply to steal passwords, credit card numbers, online banking data, or other personal information and send that information back to the malicious party. Often, a Trojan program arrives, unknown to the victim, along with a screen saver or game. When the screen saver or game is run, it is designed to then install the Trojan program that is included with it.